The week generally didn’t go as expected. Last Sunday I talked about how I was making progress running, and now I’m waiting for an MRI. Life is always, eh, interesting.
On Monday evening I started having an odd pain on the top of my left foot. On Tuesday it was still not too bad but bad enough, on Wednesday morning it was quite bad. On Thursday it seemed to be improving. On Friday I had a doctor’s appointment and it was much worse again but began to get much better again in time for my doctor’s appointment. This crazy old body is trying to play tricks with me! One moment I think the foot is fractured, the next it’s only a niggle.
You all know my history with injuries. And it’s a pattern that repeats itself – that as soon as I start making progress with running, an injury happens, and I have to rest, recover, do more physiotherapy, and start over. I’m on a third round with it now.
So how can I ever make any true progress with running? And if not, is there even a point with trying? And can I ever enjoy it fully if I just have to worry about injuries?
I was ready to give up running altogether. I even made a plan for it – to focus 100% on strength and mobility training, to kick **** in the gym and in my own training room, and become strong and flexible like a Russian gymnast. Well, not quite, lol, but you get the idea! Even if I can’t run I still want to challenge myself physically, and there’s a lot to do in the strength, mobility, balance and stability department.
Then I saw a doctor who told me I’m probably just very unlucky, that I’m doing all the right things, but I should have a physio evaluation for running/walking mechanics, and she totally encouraged me to get back to running when this is solved. She even mentioned marathons! We’ll see about that! For the near future I’ll be happy if I can walk normally. She gave me an anti-inlammatory cream and sent a referral for an MRI to rule out a stress fracture. I left feeling positive and hopeful.
Other than the bittersweet stuff, how did the week go, fitness-wise? Here’s a summary.
- Monday – run & walk intervals, 3.7 km
- Tuesday – gym day with some increased weights
- Wednesday – rest day
- Thursday – rowing
- Friday – gym day
- Saturday – strength and mobility, although not planned – more info below
- Sunday – core strength and mobility
Monday – running
My last run, for now. The thermometer showed 10C (50F) but it seemed like much more in the sun, and I realised my padded jacket is way too warm now and that it would have been enough wearing a long sleeve top with a windbreaker. Possibly even my 3/4 leggings. This is a biggie for me, lol! I know that most of you would use tank tops and shorts in this kind of weather but that’s not for me until it’s near 20 degrees!
I went the favourite road towards the beach, ran mostly on the flat areas as usual and walked the rest, but turned back about halfway to make it an appropriate loop distance. I did my usual intervals but walked quite a bit because of a subtle pain under my right foot. That pain is nothing new, I probably have mild PF but I’ve stopped worrying about it because it’s getting better and I’m doing all the things I should be doing. On the way back I could run more, and felt good.
It seemed like a quite good run, but in the evening I developed that pain on the top of my left foot.
Tuesday – gym day
When running goes down the drain, some heavy lifting will lift your soul, and this was a great session. Some exercises were replaced because of the foot pain. Again, he had increased weights on some exercises. It was some hard going, but very satisfying!
- Sumo squats, barbell 35 kgs
- Romanian deadlifts, barbell 35 kgs
- Chest press, barbell 25 kgs
- Flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Dumbbell row, 15 kgs
- Good mornings, barbell 25 kgs
- Reverse flyes/bent over raise, 4 kg dumbbells
Wednesday
Rest and recovery with some good DOMS after my lifting session.
Thursday
I started the day with 20 minutes on the rowing machine. It was quite hard work, still sore after the Tuesday lifting session, and I was totally out of my routine and not in the mood. Thursday would have been the day for a morning run. Now the rowing machine will be my go-to cardio friend for some time.
Friday – gym day
I went to the gym in my 3/4 leggings and only a thin running top under my (too heavy) jacket. Spring is here! I had a good session with the usual work and no-impact leg exercises and I felt in good form.
Of course there are exercises I can’t do, but there’s lots more that I CAN do! Let’s focus on that.
We talked a lot during this session. I left feeling encouraged, hopeful, and grateful. I have a great support team here.
My trainer’s colleague wants to see me on Tuesday after my session. Or, she wants to see my legs! Could be interesting. All for science – or to possibly get some input on this injury situation.
Saturday
Normally we would have gone for a long walk, but of course not today. My husband started working on a new kitchen floor, and I took down shelves in my home office to replace them with a Kallax unit. I’ve had a home-built shelving system with some complex DIY solutions and it was a pain in the **** to take down. Deadlifts, good mornings, side planks, hip mobility moves and much more were involved! I was reminded of how much all the work I’ve done in the gym helps in everyday life.
Sunday – strength and mobility at home
For today I’m planning my usual strength and mobility workout, with everything I can do without using the feet, so it will be mostly core, hip mobility, rotator cuffs and triceps. I should be able to do some planks since I could do push-ups in the gym, but we’ll see.
For the afternoon, a concertina friend in Sweden invited me to a music session on Zoom, with mostly concertina players but any instruments are welcome. If I’m brave I’ll play something on the concertina (I’m still rather stumbly with it if I play on my own), otherwise guitar and singing. That should be fun!
Thoughts of the week
When I sat waiting for the doctor on Friday, I read David Goggins’ latest book on my phone and thought “Am I giving up too easily? Shouldn’t I try harder to solve the problem and get back to what I want to be able to do? What about that jävlaranamma?”
Now, at the end of the week, I’ve decided to not give up running. I just need to get help to figure out what’s going wrong, correct it, get help to do the right training, and then get back to running when I feel ready.
In the meantime as I mentioned above, I’ll focus on strength and mobility, and whatever my foot mechanics evaluation reveals. And spring is here – when my foot is better I’ll enjoy long walks with the camera.
This week has been confusing and very up and down, but I’m going into the new week feeling good. Everything is going to be ok.
I’m joining the Weekly rundown link-up with Deborah from Confessions of a mother runner, and Kim from Running on the fly. Check it out to get some running and fitness inspiration!
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